Packers 21, Bears 13: Whose arrows are up and down after Bears fall to Packers

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GREEN BAY, Wis. — If you have the stomach to think about it (and I won’t blame you if you don’t), it’s kind of poetic how the Bears' season both started and effectively ended with humiliating losses to Green Bay. After three weeks of encouraging performances, the Bears came into Lambeau Field – a place they’ve barely won over the last decade – and couldn’t get it done, despite a fiesty fourth quarter comeback. They finished the season series with one touchdown in eight quarters against the Packers, and now their fate rests in the hands of the (5-8) Chargers and (6-7) Cowboys, who need to upset the Vikings and Rams, respectively, in order for the Bears’ playoff hopes to see another Monday. Here’s where the arrows are pointing:

ARROW DOWN – Prince Amukamara

Something clearly wasn’t right with the veteran corner on Sunday afternoon. He was returning from a hamstring injury that kept him out for multiple weeks – though only one game – and looked, to put it gently, rusty. Amukamara started the game, but was quickly subbed out for Kevin Toliver throughout the first half. Given how cold it was all afternoon, it’s easy to imagine how hard it could have been to get, and stay, loose. Amukamara may be a bit out of game shape, or maybe the just played poorly. He badly missed a tackle on Aaron Jones’ 21-yard touchdown run in the first drive of the second half. He’s a well-respected veteran whom the coaches trust, but it’s worth wondering whether a lingering injury and poor play would make the Bears look at starting Toliver at some point over the next two games.

ARROW UP – Anthony Miller

When Miller shows up, he *really* shows up. He had another huge game for the second time in three weeks, finishing with nine receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown. He found space over the middle of the field all game, and even his incompletions – like the effort on his out-of-bounds grab in the first half – were impressive. After a slow, inconsistent start to his second season had people wondering what his long-term role on the team was, Miller's play over the final stretch of games erased much of that concern.

ARROW DOWN – Mitch Trubisky

It’s not that Trubisky played poorly, because on paper 29-53 for 349 yards and a touchdown is plenty passable. It’s just that the QB missed the throws that he really needed to make. He overthrew Anthony Miller on a long ball in the second quarter, and if he leads Jesper Horsted on that 3rd-and-6 late in the first half, the Bears pick up a critical red zone first down. Instead, they settled for three points. In the second half, Trubisky also missed Allen Robinson, who looked like he had some separation, on a 4th-and-6 from Green Bay’s 34-yard-line. Mitch was not the reason the Bears lost, but his worst misses came at the worst times.

ARROW UP – Cordarrelle Patterson

He got fleeced on that punt penalty he had in the first quarter – he clearly timed the hit correctly, and if the refs had called it right, the Bears would have either had the ball or much more agreeable field position. Instead, the Packers started the drive at the Bears’ 35-yard-line and scored their first touchdown four plays later. It was a bang-bang play that happened quickly, but NFL refs are NFL refs because the league deems them to be the best at what they do. You don’t lose a 21-13 game because of a bad call in the first quarter, but it was an inexcusable mistake.

Otherwise, Patterson had his typically-good day returning, and almost blocked a punt. It’s hard to find arrows pointing up when your season ends in humiliating fashion in your biggest rival’s house. Patterson did what he was asked to do, and that’s enough to give him an Up Arrow for the 2019 Bears. Yikes!

ARROW DOWN – The Offensive Line

Trubisky was scrambling all over the field in the first half, but not in the way that everyone has been clamoring for. Kenny Clark was in the backfield all afternoon, and the Packers got to Trubisky (three sacks and four QB hits). Things weren’t much better in the run game, as David Montgomery averaged 2.8 yards per carry on 14 rushes; he only had 49 total yards on the day. To make matters worse, Charles Leno was flagged in the first half for being ineligible downfield, which negated an eight-yard completion to Montgomery on first down. The O-line never quite figured out its issues this season, and a line that looked so cohesive just a year ago all of a sudden has some big question marks headed into the offseason.

Up honorable mention: Akiem Hicks, Allen Robinson, Nick Kwiatkoski 

Down honorable mention: The weather, the temperature, the cold 

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